Melinda’s Golden Pony
by Empv
Summary: It has been a year since the house arrest of Andy Evans,Melinda begins to move forward in her life her sophomore year began.Melinda never thought about being in a relationship after the inident happened until she learned in therapy her will change her life for the better.(Rated T:for mentions of sexual assault,death of a friend or other traumatic events that may be too sensitive)
1. Chapter 1:Sophomore Year

The school bell rung at Merryweather High School. 16-year old Melinda Sordino stepped onto the school steps when she stepped out of the building. She looked very cheerful. She had a very bright on her face tossed her hair into the blowing wind. It was the middle of December and sophomore year had already begin.

It had been this much better since the home arrest of Andy Evans. That happened this summer.. Melinda continued telling her teachers,family members and friends after the court sentence that she felt more safe at school.

When she got to her sophomore year, she saw that the friends she reconnected with also changed. Rachel was in a brand new relationship,Nicole was on the girls tennis team and Ivy is in a top grade in art class. With all her friends growing, Melinda had been beginning to wonder is it time for a change in herself yet? Or was she late into changing?

Rachel has keep suggesting her that she should get a boyfriend so they could go on double dates, but, Melinda didn't agree.David Petrakis seems pretty nice but she sees him more as a friend. Melinda decided to start her own journey.

Since her sophomore year began, she had been going to an art club to honor her teacher, Mr.Freeman. ,and ,after school she went to coffee shops and to therapy. Her parents and friends were proud and supportive of Melinda's decision on what to do in her life today

Now, in December, Melinda was going to this special therapy that her brother recommended. after Melinda waited outside and could finally see her brother's car had pulled up. Melinda quickly hopped into the front seat,

"Hey Dennis.",greeted Melinda.

"Hey Melly.", teased Dennis softly.

He playfully messed with Melinda's hair, making Melinda laugh. That made Dennis smile. He liked to see his sister laugh.Dennis began driving off the entire car ride was almost silent before somebody started the conversation,

"So what is this special therapy Dennis?",asked Melinda.

"Oh well Melinda, it is a group therapy. Well,I didn't recommended it for you. Mom and Dad told me so I could suggest it for you.",explained Dennis.

Melinda became a little silent.

Dennis took one look at Melinda, "Look I know that you been through a lot.

I couldn't forget the first time you told me what happened and made me promise not to tell Mom and Dad. Before you told them, I remember Mom feeling devastated about not protecting you,not knowing and Dad calling the police.", said Dennis seriously.

Melinda got quiet. She remembered it like it was yesterday. The entire summer was spent in court. One session after another on what to do with Andy, These sessions involved herself, her parents,his parents and Dennis sitting there with lawyers surrounding them. She could remember the guilty look on Andy's face the entire time. It felt good he got what he deserved. No secrets or fear anymore. Dennis was in tears during his impact speech on sexual assault. This was clear that everyone in her family was horrified by what happened. Dennis said he couldn't imagine it happening it to her and was glad she got to face her trauma.Andy's parents were glaring angrily at Melinda's family. It was very tense when their son was sentenced to house arrest when the court session was over. Melinda remembered on the steps that Andy's Dad socked her father in the nose and Andy's mom yelling, "Your little punk of a daughter ruined my son's life!"

Melinda forgot it right now just to focus on her sophomore year, but,looking back at it now just made her feel more powerful.

"I know Dennis that your worried about me,but, I'm more capable of protecting myself now.",said Melinda softly.

"That's good to hear. Its just I don't want you to get hurt again." ,said Dennis.

Melinda went for the last time.

"I know Dennis, I would like you thank you for suggesting me group therapy, anyway. I would like to meet people who need to work through experiences like I do.",said Melinda.

"Anytime.",said Dennis,

He continued driving with hoping in his heart that this therapy would be help for his sister's needs.


	2. Chapter 2:You Okay?

Dennis's car finally pulled up at the building. Melinda shifted herself out of the car to walk into the building

"Have a good day. I'll pick you when schools over.", said Dennis.

He drove off as Melinda waved him goodbye.

Then she turned away to walk to the door, suddenly, Melinda slipped on a crack part of the sidewalk that was near the gate.

"Ahhh!",she shouted as she was falling, but,all of a sudden, she felt somebody caught her just in time. Melinda looked up, it was a tall boy with blonde hair wearing a black jean jacket. He looked concerned. Melinda was silent, quickly scanning his face and body language to see if he was friendly. Melinda had trouble trusting boys, after what happened. She didn't even trust her own brother at one point.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine, thank you.", said Melinda as she tried to stand quickly,"So it's your first day two?"

"Uh, yeah.",said the boy as he nodded.

"You?",he asked.

"Yeah, me too.", said Melinda.

They walked side by side now. The two of them were getting close to the gate that's when they stopped and turned to look at each other.

"Hey is it okay if I open the door for you?", asked the boy.

"Yeah, it's okay.",said Melinda.

He opened the door to let Melinda through before walking in himself.


	3. Chapter 3:Group Therapy

When Melinda and this boy walked across the hall to a small room. There was an older man and a bunch other kids who look between the ages of 15-17 were sitting in a circle. They walked in to the last two empty seats to sit down with others who were already there.

"I guess this is the group therapy,right?",asked Melinda to the older man who looked in charge.

"Got that right. My name is Mr.Miller I'm the therapist. What is your name, young lady?",asked Mr.Miller.

"My name is Melinda.", Melinda introduced herself.

"I'm Ponyboy." ,said the boy who was sitting right next to her. Melinda took one moment to turn and look at him. "

"Ponyboy, that's a weird name.",thought Melinda.

"Alright so since we were introduced by Melinda and Ponyboy,

"let's get to know each other. I'm Mr.Miller, as you probably may know, I'm the therapist and I would like to get to know all of you."Said Mr.Miller

"So lets start.",continued Mr.Miller

"I'm Abigail.",said one girl .

"I'm Justin." Introduced one boy

"I'm Samual.",said another boy

"I'm Cadence.",said another girl.

Mr.Miller moved his head towards Melinda and Ponyboy, the both of them looked at him confused.

"Huh what?", Ponyboy who was the first one to speak

"Your turn." Said Mr.Miller

"But we already told you what our names are." Said Ponyboy

"I know but you have to introduce your names to everyone else." Said Mr.Miller

"Okay...well I'm Ponyboy." Introduced Ponyboy

"I'm Melinda.", introduced Melinda.

"Hi Ponyboy and Melinda.",said the other kids in the group

"Okay let's get started." Said Mr.Miller.


	4. Chapter 4:Getting To Know Each Other

Mr.Miller was sitting comfortably in his seat.

"Alright. Since we all introduced ourselves, I'm ready to here some stories about you.",said Mr.Miller.

The entire circle was silent and confused. Melinda looked over at Ponyboy and it turned out Ponyboy was looking back at Melinda. Melinda sort of believed this was some sort of "mind trick". Ponyboy always seemed to know what was going on in Melinda's mind.

"What is this therapist talking about? I thought this was going to be serious. I mean my brother said my parents thought this would be good for me.",thought Melinda.

She watched as Mr.Miller looked around the room to see that nobody was saying anything.

"Okay, since nobody is saying anything, I'm going to be calling out people.", said Mr.Miller.

He pointed towards Justin. Justin stood still and was frozen like a statue. When Mr.Miller's finger landed on him, that is when Justin pointed at himself.

"Me?",asked Justin.

"Yes, you ,I want to hear your story about why you're here.",said Mr.Miller.

Justin, without thinking, got himself to sit straight up leaning out of his seat with urgency.

"So,my name is Justin Conners. I'm 17 years old and the reason why I'm here is my parents got divorced. Then, my mom remarried. This man is okay but it kinda sucks because I miss my dad a lot. My mom doesn't want me to see him because he had a criminal record. That really affected me so bad, that's why I'm here.",explained Justin.

Justin sat back in his seat. He looked relieved to tell somebody the truth.

"My name is Abigail Smith. I'm 15 years old and I just got out of a abusive relationship with my boyfriend. He was controlling and manipulative towards me. One day I had enough and dumped him and that gave me a habit on not trusting anymore boys. So, that's why I'm here.",said Abigail.

"Alright, thank you Abigail next person!",shouted Mr.Miller.

His finger landed on Samual. Samual decided to stand up.

"My name is Samual Johnson and I'm 15 years old and I was bullied a lot. As the bullying got bad,I was able to tell someone. Those bullies were suspended from school and transferred out. This was a month ago, but, I was still pretty affected by it. So, that's why I'm here.",said Samual.

"Alright, thank you, Samual. Next person.",said Mr.Miller. as he watched Cadence stand up.

"Hello my name is Cadence Thompson. I'm 16 years old and I was born with a eating disorder. After I eat the food, an hour later, I would feel like throwing up in the toilet. People joked saying that I was pregnant or something. It turned out they were wrong. As the people around me realized that I was getting thin, and I was teased, my parents saw the problem and put me here.",said Cadence.

"Alright thank you Cadence." Said Mr.Miller as he points at Melinda

"You.", he said.

"Me?",asked Melinda.

"Yeah we want to hear your story.",said Mr.Miller.

"My name is Melinda Sordino. I'm 16 years old now. When I was 15 years old, before I began my freshman year, I went to a party with my friends. There I met a boy and thought he would become a boyfriend. It turned out that boy drugged me and took advantage of me...",said Melinda.

Everyone was still silent, but,still wanted to listen.

"So when I got to freshman year, my friends turned against me because I called the cops. During that time, I found the courage to speak up for myself. Now the guy is under house arrest for good.",said Melinda.

"Alright. Thank you, Melinda for saying that. Next person!",shouted Mr.Miller.

Ponyboy stood up from his seat.

"Hello, my name is Ponyboy Curtis. I'm 15 and live with my two older brothers since our parents died when we were very young. Darrel, the oldest, had to take care both of me and Sodapop,my brother. It was very hard for him since he's the oldest.",started Ponyboy.

Ponyboy continued with the rest of his story. As for Melinda, who went through a traumatic event herself, listening to the whole story made her feel like she could relate to him. After Ponyboy was done, Mr.Miller decided to speak, saying the first session was just them getting to know each other. Tomorrow would be the second session. Then he let everybody get up and leave.


	5. Chapter 5:How Was Your Day?

So after leaving the therapy group meeting, Melinda walked to Dennis's car. It was waiting for her in front of the building. Melinda came out of the building and walked straight into her brother's car. She opened the back door and threw her stuff in. Then,shutting the back car door, she got into the front seat.

"Hey Dennis! .",she said.

"Hey sis.",said Dennis with a smile.

He played with her hair a little, flicking the bottoms like he did when he picked her up from school, then, he went to start the car. As soon as they began to drive off.

"So how was your day there? Did you like it?",asked Dennis.

"Yeah, turned out there is a lot of kids there with similar issues like me.",said Melinda.

"Well, that's good. because mom and dad wanted me to suggest it to you. They figure that you could relate to those kids and probably make some friends there as well.",said Dennis

"That makes sense to me.",said Melinda with a small smile on her face.

"So did you made any friends yet?",asked Dennis

"No,not yet, but I did met someone on my way in.",said Melinda.

"Alright, who is it?",asked Dennis

"His name is Ponyboy." ,said Melinda. Dennis almost felt like laughing when his sister told him who this person's name was but he was able to hold his laughter in

"Ponyboy. what kind of name is that?",teased Dennis.

"Well his real name is Thomas, but, his brothers and the friends he lives with calls him Ponyboy, that's because his hair reminds them of a blond mane on a pony.",said Melinda.

"Ohhh.. interesting.. alright, well, he seems like a nice guy, anyway. We're home. So tell mom and dad how your day went.",said Dennis with a smile. a

Melinda got out of the car and then waited for a while for her brother to get out of the car as well so he and Melinda to walk her inside.


	6. Chapter 6:Ponyboy’s Home

Ponyboy walked all the way home from the therapy meeting. He opened the door, and saw that his older brother Darry was in the kitchen cooking dinner.

"Hey Darry.",he said.

"Hey.", he said back.

He was focused on steaming on whatever was in the boiler. Then, he held his hand over the oven

"I'm going you to call out for dinner so you could tell me on how was your first day at therapy?,said Darry.

Ponyboy looked over at him. While he was talking to him, Ponyboy responded with a nod before heading into his room. He unpacked all of his stuff in the backyard, before he sat down to eat with his brother Darry, and also his other brother Sodapop

A Few Minutes Later~

At the dinner table, Darry had place plates of salad in front of Ponyboy and Sodapop before sitting down himself so he could also eat. The plate that has salad keeps everyone's focus. After moment of heavy chewing, the three brothers looked up from on eating their salads. Darry had said something. He brought up the question that Ponyboy was waiting for.

"So, how was therapy?",he asked.

Ponyboy looked up at his brother from his plate to he could answer the question,

"It was good.",he said.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that.",said Darry.

He and Ponyboy went back to finishing their salads. Time to talk about the Ponyboy's first day and first experience at therapy again.

"You know I did that so I could help you, right?", asked Darry as Ponyboy looked up at him again.

"Yeah, of course, my brother, and, brothers stick together."agreed Ponyboy

Darry responded with a laugh causing the two other brothers to laugh along with him

"Alright, so, it's getting late so time to go to bed.",said Darry.

He watched Sodapop and Ponyboy get out of their seats as they picked up their plates to put them in the sink before going into their rooms and going into bed to sleep for most of the night.


	7. Chapter 7:Melinda’s Home

After a long drive from the therapy center, Dennis and Melinda were finally home. The both of them got out of the car and walked up to the front door of their house to be greeted by their mom and dad. It was time for dinner.

While in the kitchen, Joyce,the mother, was over at the kitchen stove. Preparing to bring over the food to the table, Joyce smiled and pointed to the table where they should sit. Once they sat, Joyce placed her food on each part of the table. Her family members were ready to eat, Joyce was ready to sit down at her seat so she could eat her food as .well

"So how was the first day?",asked Joyce. Melinda looked up at her mom.

"It was good.",she answered with a smile.

She tried to eat the spaghetti neatly that her mom made for the whole family including her herself.

"So what did you guys talk about ? Were there any other kids there as well?", asked Joyce.

"There's this boy named Thomas. He wants everybody to call him "Ponyboy" for some reason. He seemed pretty friendly.",shared Melinda.

"Why? He wants everyone to do that?",asked Jack.

"Yeah, tell us Melinda."said Joyce.

"Something about him being part of a gang.",finished Melinda that almost made Jack spit take his drink.

"Oh heck no! No daughter of mine is interacting with a gang member!",yelled Jack

"Dad, calm down.",said Dennis.

"Calm down.. really, Dennis!? How could you be so calm about this!?",yelled Jack

"Because he seemed like a nice boy. If she had a good day there with him, that's fine by me.", said Dennis.

"Really Dennis? I told you about watching over your sister more and I don't want her to get hurt like last time! I mean what if this so called "gang" Thomas is in sells drugs or steal stuff or..." ..paused Jack.

Before Jack could rumble anymore.. the word "get hurt" again echoed in Melinda's head.

"Dad, that's enough ! How dare you bring up my assault again!", Melinda exploded.

"Hey how dare you talk back to me!",yelled Jack.

"H-honey Melinda's right, I think you need to calm down a little.",whispered Joyce softly.

Jack stopped himself as he took a deep breath.

"Alright Melinda, I need to go to your room for a second so I could talk about this with your brother and your mother."said Jack.

"Alright Dad.", agreed Melinda, as she got up and left.


End file.
